Etude in F Minor
by pandorabox82
Summary: David comes home to find someone waiting for him. But will he be able to believe that this is really happening to him? Written for the CCOAC Strangeness of September challenge.


Dave wearily stumbled into his house, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. It had been a rough case in Arizona, and he wanted nothing more than to be in his bed, sleeping the horror of the past few days away.

He stiffened when he heard the ghostly strains of Chopin floating through the air, and he let his hand come to rest on the butt of his gun. Senses on high alert, he crept into the living room, where Erin's piano still sat, untouched in all these months since her passing. He couldn't bring himself to part with it, even though the sight of it was a hot brand to his heart.

Quietly pushing open the living room door, he peered around it and saw a familiar blonde head bent over the keyboard, lost in the music. He had to blink rapidly before pinching himself, trying to see if he was dreaming or not. When he found himself awake, he moved his hand and crept over to the woman playing.

Stopping behind her, Dave breathed in the familiar and heady scent of Erin's perfume and he choked back a sob. The playing stopped and she turned to face him. "You're home. I thought you were going to be here earlier."

Dave reached out and tentatively touched her shoulder, meeting the firm resistance of flesh. "You're alive," he breathed out, pulling her close to him as he let tears flow down his face. "Where have you been?"

"In hiding. There was some confusion as to whether or not those were Curtis's bones found in the remains of his house or not, and then, they forgot to tell me that it was. I came back to you as soon as I could, and then, you weren't here."

"I'm here now." He pressed his lips to the top of her head and she melted into him, her arms closing around his waist. "If I had known, I would have been home sooner."

"I know. Um, I don't have a house anymore."

"What?" He let go of her to sit down on the piano bench, letting her curl up against him. "Did Alan..?"

"Sell the house? Yes. He claimed he was doing it for the children, to give them a good influx of cash in their college funds. They, they don't want to see me right now, and I really don't blame them. I did scare them, after all."

Dave could hear the dejection in her voice and sighed deeply, resting his head against hers. "It's going to take time, Erin. Oh, my love, what can I do to make you feel better?"

"I don't know if there is anything that can make me feel better. I, I've been struggling with my sobriety a lot in these last few months. But once I took a seat at the piano, it seemed like everything just sort of melted away. But I can't sit at the piano every moment I'm awake."

He chuckled and turned his head, kissing her gently. "This is true, you do need to eat at some point. How about we go up to bed and talk? I have the feeling that we are going to need to do this while horizontal."

Erin reached out and grabbed hold of his hand, squeezing tightly. "David. Do you still love me?"

He knew that she was feeling incredibly vulnerable in that moment, and squeezed her hand back before lacing their fingers together. "How could I not still love you? I've thought of you every moment of every day, and I wished that I could go back in time, that I would have gone with you to the hotel. And now, you're here, you're alive. Oh, my darling, how could I ever stop loving you?"

She shrugged and turned into him, resting her forehead on his chest. "Those were the words I had hoped I would hear. May, may I play just one more thing for you, before we head up to bed?"

"I would love nothing more than that, Erin." He pressed another kiss to her head and then pushed her away, standing up and leaning on the piano, watching her intently. Erin drew in a deep breath as she turned around on the bench, placing her hands on the keyboard. She closed her eyes, pulling up a piece of music in her mind. It had always amazed him that she could memorize the music so easily, that she could recall it with a mere thought. Once more, she played Chopin, or he thought it was Chopin, it sounded similar to the piece she had been playing earlier. He couldn't help but smile as she lost herself in the music, a dreamy look stealing over her face.

When the piece was finished a few minutes later, he let out a deep breath of contentment and held his hand out to her. "Will you be able just to hold me tonight? I'm not certain that I will be able to handle sex so soon. Things are vague, but I recall, I think…" Her voice trailed off and he bundled her up in a tight hug.

"That's the MDMA talking. It gave you hallucinations, it did the same thing to me. What do you think you remember?"

"Having sex with you that evening." They locked eyes and Dave watched Erin tear up. "You didn't come back to the hotel room, though. I remember that much. That means…"

"That means I more glad than ever that I was the one who killed that son of a bitch." He tenderly kissed her, wanting to erase every bad thought in her head. "I would do it all over again if it meant that you didn't have that memory."

She clung to him as she wept, heedless of when he picked her up, carrying her over to the staircase. It was more difficult than he had thought to carry her up the stairs, his center of balance thrown off. Still, she held on to him tightly, her cries never lessening. Tenderly, he set her on the bed before kneeling in front of her. "Davie?" she finally whispered, looking at him. "Will you promise me that you love me?"

"I promise that I will love you until the end of time." He leaned in and kissed her. "Please, do not ever think that because Curtis decided to take advantage of your disorientation that I would ever love you any less. You are my beloved Erin, and there is nothing in this world that I would ever want to separate us."

Slowly, she nodded and reached her arms out, linking them behind his neck as she rested her forehead against his. "I wanted to come home earlier than this. I couldn't. I, I have to break the news to the others tomorrow. I don't have any idea of where to start."

"Do you trust me?"

"Always. In everything." She pulled back and gave him a tremulous smile. "What do you have in mind?"

"Let me call Penelope in the morning. She can help us brainstorm ways to inform the team. We're both due some time off, and I know that she would love something that can get her mind off the case we just finished."

"Was it a bad one?" she asked, arching into his hands as he made short work of the buttons on her blouse.

"Yes," he quietly said, leaning in and kissing her neck. She drew in a short breath, her fingers tugging on his shaggy hair. "Identical twins. I never thought that Reid's insane idea of evil twin, eviler twin would come to fruition."

Erin stiffened a little, pulling back and giving him a quizzical look. "What?"

"You might not remember the case, but it was right after Hotch was cleared to come back to work after New…" He broke off, unable to finish the name of the city that had almost taken everything from him.

"After New York. Wait, are you talking about that executed serial killer? The one who was thought to have come back to life?"

He nodded and reached up to cup her cheek, rubbing his thumb back and forth over the bone. "That's the one. Well, on the plane, he posited the theory that since the DNA would be the same, it could be a case of evil and eviler. We laughed it off at the time."

"Until it came true." He nodded as she let go of him, slipping the blouse off her arms and folding it before handing it over. "That does sound awful. What else have I missed?"

Erin stretched out on the bed, resting her hands beneath her head to prop it up as she watched him. "A lot. Your kids and I get together at least once a week to talk about you. I found out that you have an older sister who lives in Australia. We sort of made plans to see her next spring."

"What? You're going to see Jessica? I haven't seen her in years."

"I know, I heard. You're coming, too, now that you've come back to us." He stood and quickly stripped down to his boxers before leaning down and unzipping her skirt, tugging it off and setting it next to her blouse. Erin arched her back, and he chuckled, taking her unspoken hint and unclasping her bra, pulling it off. "Panties, too?"

"No, not tonight." She looked away from him, her entire body stiffening in shame, and he felt his heart break as he set the bra atop their pile of clothes. "Just climb in and hold me close to you as we talk. We have so much to talk about."

"That we do, my love." He went over to his side of the bed and pulled the sheets up over them as he spooned up against her body. "Why didn't you let me know that you were alive sooner? Why did we have to mourn you for so long?"

"You always were one to ask the tough questions. I couldn't speak to you. I was ordered to keep complete radio silence from everyone. The only people who knew I was alive were the Director and the marshal in charge of looking after me. I didn't mean to make you mourn me. I thought that perhaps you would move on. I was always hoping that you wouldn't. I, I did a lot of mourning, too."

She began to cry once more, he could tell by the way she torso moved as she breathed unevenly. "You lost so much, too. They still haven't decided who is going to take over the Section Chief position, You could come back, you know."

She shook her head vigorously. "No. I do not want that. I can't go back there any more. I don't care who knows if I'm alive, I just cannot face that space anymore."

Erin turned to look at him, and Dave couldn't resist leaning in and kissing her tenderly. "Then stay with me, forever. I'll take care of you, I promise." Reaching up, he caressed her cheek before giving her another soft kiss. "Be my companion, my lover, my beloved friend and sweetheart. Stay and be my other half. Complete me."

She sighed deeply as she encircled her arms around his waist. "I would love nothing more than that, David." A tiny smile curved her lips and he rested his forehead against her, listening to her breathe. "I missed the scent of your aftershave. I missed the sound of your breathing, the way we synced up as we rested in each other's arms. I missed playing for you."

David rubbed her back softly. "I missed some things about you, too. I missed the sound of your unexpected giggle when I tickle you. I missed the way that you just knew what I was feeling and what I needed in that moment. I missed watching you as you played, seeing you bent over the keyboard, as if listening to a voice in it, as if you were carrying a conversation with the music. I love September now."

"Why?"

"Because it is a month just for you, a month to celebrate piano players and what they do. And it is still September, even if it is for just a few more hours. So I get to honor you." He pressed his lips against hers once more, trying to convey all the love he held in his heart for her to her. She returned the kiss, her arms tightening around him. "I love you, Erin."

"I love you, David. Hold me close."

"Forever and always."


End file.
